Luxury motorcycle maker Ducati is poised for a £900m Hong Kong flotation as
China becomes its main market for selling bikes.

The 85-year-old Italian company, which made £79m of profits last year, has launched an informal beauty parade for banks as it draws up plans for a possible 2012 IPO.

The listing will follow IPOs from other luxury goods companies such as Samsonite and Prada that have also debuted on the Hong Kong borse.

For Ducati, Asia has become its main focus, with bike sales jumping 50pc to 8,000 last year. It is thought this will increase to 120,000 bikes in the next five years.

Ducati has turned its fortunes around in recent years after switching from American ownership back to Italian. In 1996, US private equity firm TPG partnered with an Italian unit of Deutsche Bank to buy 51pc of the company, adding the remaining 49pc two years later for around $500m (£307m).

By 1999 TPG had taken Ducati public. But TPG was criticised for allowing Ducati's top designers to leave and for trying to popularise the brand in the US at the expense of its exclusivity and sex appeal. In 2006 TPG sold its remaining $50m stake to Italian private equity firm Investindustrial, run by Carlo Bonomi and his brother Andrea.

The firm de-listed Ducati and oversaw a massive cost cutting programme, slashing production numbers and imposing salary cuts for executives. The well groomed Italian buy-out house also bought British helicopter firm Bond earlier his year for £270m.